Floods kill 94

    Heavy rains battering central and southern China led to floods and landslides* that killed at least 94 people, turning areas of enduring drought* just over a week ago into scenes of muddy destruction, local news reports said on Monday.

    In Yueyang City in Hunan Province, weather stations recorded more than 200 millimeters of rain in six hours, the kind of downpour that strikes once every 300 years, the China News Service reported. In Guanshan Village in Yueyang, the downpours triggered a mudslide that crushed 24 homes and killed at least 20 people.

    Pollution apology

    A public apology by Harbin Pharmaceutical Group over serious pollution failed to calm residents in a neighborhood in which antibiotic factories is located in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.

    The Harbin group, one of China’s biggest drug manufacturers, made the public apology on Saturday.

    Metro Line 4 faults

    Metro Line 4 has experienced two faults* in the past two weeks, putting the operator, Hong Kong MTR, under fire.

    The latest fault occurred on Sunday morning, causing the suspension* of services for about 30 minutes. The MTR confirmed the fault and attributed it to a malfunction* in the train’s braking system. The company has established a special work team to investigate the incident and paid refunds to more than 140 passengers affected.

    Bullet trains

    The Ministry of Railways on Monday announced speed-based trial fares for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway opening later this month.

    Fares for trips on trains running at 300 kph will be priced between 555 yuan (US$85.6) for second-class seats and 1,750 yuan for business class. Fares for journeys on 250-kph trains will range from 410 yuan for second-class seats to 650 yuan for first class.

    (SD-Agencies)